Chapter 148: Heartbeat Joins

After an entire afternoon of testing, Heat felt like he was about to throw up. No wonder Owen had insisted on raising the chassis and reinforcing the undercarriage—some sections of the route were literally just staircases.

"Okay, we're all set!"

From the corner of the warehouse, Becky's excited voice rang out. Everyone gathered around.

Seated at her laptop, Becky eagerly demonstrated how she had successfully hacked into the traffic control system. The NSA's technology was no joke—it only took her a few minutes to break in. To prove it, she orchestrated a car accident in real time.

With the traffic system under control, the only remaining issue was the subway.

The spot where they had planted explosives last night was actually a railway junction for subway cars returning to the depot. When they were there, the trains had already stopped running, so it hadn't caused any disruptions.

But tomorrow's operation would take place during the day, when the subway was in full operation. That meant they had to neutralize it.

Becky spent a long time studying the system but found that she couldn't fully control the subway. It had a built-in manual override mechanism, meaning that if the electronic system failed, operators could immediately switch to manual control.

Completely hijacking the subway remotely was impossible.

So, Becky took a different approach. If she couldn't control the trains, she would simply cut power to the rails. That would shut the system down just the same.

With that, all the problems were solved.

Owen checked his watch—5 PM. In 17 hours, they would make their move.

Everything was ready.

All that was left was to wait.

But at that moment, a sudden bang bang echoed from the warehouse door.

The unexpected knocking startled everyone inside.

Heat and Ash exchanged glances and immediately grabbed their guns.

This was the outskirts—there was no reason for anyone to come knocking out of nowhere.

Brian had chosen this warehouse precisely because it was abandoned. The junk inside made it clear that if there was still an owner, they had long forgotten about it.

Something was off.

Everyone exchanged wary looks. Brian moved to open the door while the others hid with their weapons ready.

With a creak, the small side door opened, revealing a young white man with a mohawk.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, I'm looking for Steve Owen~~~"

Even before seeing the man's face, Owen recognized the familiar voice.

He stepped forward. Sure enough—it was Heartbeat.

"Heartbeat? What the hell are you doing here? Did Jack send you?"

That was Owen's first thought. But Heartbeat shook his head.

"No, I came on my own."

"You came looking for me? Why?"

Owen was confused.

Heartbeat glanced at the doorframe, as if aware there were people hiding on either side. Owen stepped forward, blocking his view, but Heartbeat didn't seem to mind.

"Yesterday, Jack told me you were suspended. I knew you'd be planning something. If you're going after the Montel family in Colombia, I want in."

"Why? You have a grudge against them?"

Owen wasn't surprised that Heartbeat had figured out his target. They had worked together as partners for too long—Heartbeat had seen Owen's recent behavior and put the pieces together. That wasn't the surprising part.

What he really wanted to know was why Heartbeat had such hatred for the Montel family. As far as he knew, they had no connection.

"Because of Morris. He saved my life. I never even got the chance to thank him before he was gunned down. I want to do something for him."

At the mention of Morris, Owen fell silent.

Ash and the others, still hidden, slowly stepped out. Everyone stared at Heartbeat in silence.

"Let me join you."

Heartbeat looked around at the group and made his request.

"You might die."

"I'm not afraid."

"This is an unsanctioned operation. If we fail, we'll be fugitives."

"I can live with that."

"Alright. Welcome aboard."

Owen gave his approval. But he still had one last question.

"One thing, though—how did you find me?"

Heartbeat answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Easy. I asked the data team to track your phone signal. There's nothing else around here—this was the only place that could have people."

Makes sense.

Owen made the final call.

Heartbeat had fought alongside SWAT, survived life-or-death situations with them, and was a solid marksman. He was an asset.

With Heartbeat on board, their team was now complete. Brian quickly reassigned some of his tasks to him.

Everything was set.

Now, they just had to wait for tomorrow.

17 hours passed in a blur.

The night fell. Then, just as quickly, the sun rose.

CTU had scheduled the transfer for 10 AM. By 9 AM, Owen and Heat were already in position.

Owen was alone in his car. Heat's vehicle carried both him and Ash—Ash was their primary combatant, ready to handle any unexpected situations.

CTU's plan was detailed. At 9:30, they would pick up Alex from the prison. By 10 AM, the convoy would enter the city, staying on main roads under heavy military escort.

But for about a kilometer, the route would narrow into a single-lane road.

That was no accident.

CTU had deliberately designed this weak point into the plan.

Two days ago, the CTU mole had leaked the transport route. No doubt, multiple groups would try to strike at the single-lane road.

Owen's team planned to strike there, too. It was a race—whoever got to Alex first would win.

10:20 AM.

Everyone was in position.

"The convoy is three intersections away from the target zone."

Becky's voice came through their earpieces. She had successfully hacked into the necessary systems.

On her laptop screen, four live windows were open: one showing the convoy's movements via street cameras, one monitoring the subway station, and the last two displaying the traffic light and subway control interfaces.

Across the street, in a blacked-out Range Rover, Brian watched his own screen closely while Becky worked beside him.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the road, a work truck with a massive steel plate mounted on the back had pulled over.

The driver, wearing a construction worker's uniform, stepped out.

It was Heartbeat.

He turned on the truck's hazard lights and placed a warning triangle behind it, putting on an irritated expression like he was dealing with a breakdown.

Brian kept an eye on both the convoy's progress and the street outside.

The number of pedestrians was noticeably higher than usual.

Homeless people with luggage. A hot dog vendor. A student carrying a guitar case.

Cars parked along the street, with shadowy figures sitting inside.

To Brian's trained eye, this was a battlefield waiting to erupt.

Owen and Heat were ready. Their cars sat idle by the roadside.

"The convoy is approaching."

Both Owen and Heat released their parking brakes.

On Becky's screen, a subway train had just departed the station.

In another window, the convoy was turning onto the narrow street.

"Go! The train just left. You have 90 seconds."

[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! Only $5 per novel or $15 for all!!] [www.p@treon.com/Mutter]

[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]

[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]